International labour organisation


Rationale and Background to the study



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2.0 Rationale and Background to the study

In 2005, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) International Programme on the Elimination on Child Labour (IPEC) and the Project to Promote ILO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (PRO 169) undertook a joint initiative to explore and generate basic information understanding and knowledge on the issue, extent and nature of child labour among the indigenous peoples in selected target areas in Kenya, Guatemala and the Philippines. Renowned resource persons from the three countries were commissioned to undertake overview studies and to facilitate indigenous peoples’ consultations and dialogue at the national level inform of workshops.


The outcome and findings of the studies and the deliberations emanating from the national dialogue sessions were shared within the ILO and in May 2006, a panel discussions was organised in New York during the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues. This was a unique opportunity to present and share information in broader manner, as the UN PFII, is the body mandated to coordinate indigenous peoples’ issues within the UN system.
The process led to the formulation and elaboration of flexible guidelines and basic approaches for recognising and addressing child labour among indigenous peoples9 .
The specific study undertaken in Kenya in 2005 identified knowledge and information gaps that needed further work. It was then seen as important and relevant to undertake additional work, including the more in-depth study that has led to the present report, to leverage the work on child labour on other broad human rights issues and activities that the ILO has been supporting in Kenya since 2002. This work was undertaken in 2006-7 by the same consultant who did the previous work leading to the elaboration of the guidelines.


2.1 Terms of Reference


The consultant was engaged by PRO 169 to undertake a study that will help generate information needed to fill the research gaps, strengthen the existing knowledge and broaden the understanding of the notion of child labour among the indigenous communities in Kenya. The consultant was given the following tasks;

  • Designing a long term advocacy strategy to address child labour among the ITPs and raising the profile of ITPs child labour issues and concerns at the national level so as to motivate government, CSOs and UN agencies interest and actions;

  • Use audio visual technology to document the nature, extent and different forms of child labour among selected indigenous communities in Kenya;

  • Formulate a proposal for long term intervention for which funding would be sort under separate arrangements;

  • Assist the IPEC-TBP project in Kenya by strengthening its design and interventions approaches

  • Present the outcomes of the overview study at the UNPFII session in New York in 2007.

2.2. Methodology employed by the Study


To be able to meet the above outputs and targets, the consultant had to use different methods and approaches to generate, collect, analyse and present the information. The pastoralists and hunter-gatherers live in remote areas with no well-formed road and communication network and to be able to generate information, a lot of flexibility and public rapport are needed on the part of the consultant. The consultant used the growing network of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers organisations to collect information in the different geographical areas, visits were undertaken in Marsabit, Laikipia, Kajiado, Garissa, Nairobi, Isiolo and Samburu districts. The desk review was undertaken and district development plans for the target areas were “audited” not only to extract relevant and specific information (such as population, poverty levels, number of schools, enrolment rates) but also to identify intervention strategies being used by the different actors to address the increasing poverty levels in pastoralists’ areas.
The consultant used different opportunities presented by different advocacy and awareness /information sharing processes organised such as community workshops, trainings, consultations organised by these IPOs organisations and communities, at the national, provincial, districts and community level.
Dupoto e Maa is an IPO organisation in Kajiado and has been implementing education and child labour intervention projects for over 6 years and it invited the consultant to undertake the review of their projects; this opportunity was used to generate information that helped to shape and inform the study.
IMPACT has been active in Isiolo, Samburu, Marsabit and Laikipia, implementing projects on women’s rights and broad human rights awareness, para legal training, training in gender-based violence, youth empowerment. In this context, it became very necessary to explore the relationship between gender/domestic based violence, that is rampant among the indigenous communities, and child labour.
The consultant also had the opportunity to attend a number of peace-building and reconciliation meetings organised by CSOs, government agencies and faith-based organisations aimed at facilitating dialogue between and among different pastoralists groups. The magnitude and trends of natural resource based conflicts amongst the pastoralists is on the increase. The impact of these conflicts on communities, in particular women and children, has reached unbearable level.

The conflicts are taking different turns and twists; women and children are increasingly being exposed to risks of deaths, rapes and, even worse, being used as prime targets or shields. There are a significant number of orphaned children and widows as a consequence and they all end up being potential source of child labour.


The consultant also visited the selected areas and organised dialogue sessions with CSOs, government agencies, private sectors, small business enterprises and international organisations that are implementing different activities ranging from relief operations and drought intervention, education, community health, water and sanitation. It was important to draw their attention to the issue and establish what individual organisations or network are doing with regard to child labour and if not, whether they have an interest in formulating interventions.


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